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Published: December 19th 2008
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Bounty
as always I straightly said yes the time when my office offered me to go to Sumba. Going without being sure about what should I do there, I got the tickets for one night transit in Bali to meet up with best friends, Cathy and LM.
Bali is like always, I never realized how much I miss it until the time I was going around by motorbike. But probably I just miss the food. Hahaha.
Went on dinner to Warung 96 at Poppies Lane, was kind of disappointing they don’t have the pasta I been missing.
Didn’t plan to hang out in Legian but we did anyway. Bounty is nastiest, funniest, the most wasted place you can be at. It’s the club in Kuta you can find people just wearing shorts. And it’s not even on the beach.
Jungle juice, jam jars, name all the long drinks you want they will mix it with arak anyway. So I took flamed shots. Maybe it was arak too, hahaha.
Heavy hangover in the morning
I was on my way to the airport when the staff from Sumba called me and asked me to get Dunkin Donuts for them, when I met a guy from the
late
cathy, LM, me and a stranger who just jumped in to the picture office at the airport and he already had Dunkin Donuts with him too. And then when it was the boarding time, I saw everyone at the queue bring Dunkin Donuts too. People in Sumba must like it so much. I was so glad they told me to buy Dunkin Donuts before. That made me didn’t look weird.
The guy who sat beside me, Pak Gerard, he’s originally from Flores but already lived in Sumba for years. Now he works in Wamena Papua as the Prisoner Head there. I had very interesting conversation with him. He showed me the East Sumba land from the plane. I never seen such a big plain of savannah. It’s like looking at the biggest Golf range ever. The people of Sumba annually burn their land so it will grow new grass on rainy season to feed their cattle.
Waingapu airport is the smallest airport I’ve ever been. People really know each other. It’s like being in a big house with a big family.
I got picked up with the Sumba co-workers. We meant to go straight to the office place in West Sumba by cars. Stopped by at Oom Anis’s family place to pick up
some Sumba clothes to be worn at . I was stunned when I saw it. A big complex of family’s place, the giant traditional houses surrounding family’s stone cemetery. Megalithic cemetery stones stand in the middle. Very prehistoric. They are cutting the king’s tomb. SO BIG. it’s 40 ton, 54 ton before they cut it. The king’s body is still in the house. He died since last May and waiting for the tomb to be prepared. This is very common. Om Anis told me it’s the matter of money and the stone they look for. There was one of his relative died and then had to wait 16 years for the tomb to be made.
We were supposed to attend a staff’s pre-wedding traditional ceremony, but it was already midnight when we got in West Sumba. So we had to pass it and go straight to the office’s house.
The guys were trying on the clothes. They tied it in such a way to make them easier to ride the horse. It’s strongly connected to Pasola, the biggest festival they’re having.
The clothes is probably one of the most complicated things to make. the meaning of the pattern and history
heavy stuff
tomb for the king of priyuli of how the clothes was made has the longest story ever. i'm holding the most expensive valuable pattern now, kind of thinking about stealing it and then sell it so i can buy tickets to travel all over asia. but its gonna be worn for the groom on the wedding party, so.. i dont have the heart. i will steal it some other day.
The tradition of wedding is way overcomplicated. Basically two sides of family will have to make a bargain to each other and they have to pay with buffalos, pigs, antique daggers and elephant tusks (not talking about tusks, I cant even guess where the hell they could find the elephants these days in east nusa tenggara!!)
So our co worker who getting married, he’s having a problem looking for buffalos with 1 meter long horns. They also looking for water buffalos with normal horns. About 80 of it. 80!!!
The whole family is stressed out because tomorrow the wedding ceremony will be held at the church and the party invitations are already spread out, but the traditional negotiation hasn’t finished yet. (how could it be? 80 buffalos!!!) At this point I feel lucky that im not
the pattern
i took this pic so i will remember the pattern when i want to steal it. a Sumbanese girl, it’d be so much harder for me to get a husband if I am. But then I think that it must be nice to have 80 buffalos at home.
My first day at Sumba has been so interesting, im very excited being here and see what’s around.
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